Bookworm
by RoxSor
Summary: All Ven wanted to do was get through his senior year as fast as possible. All Vanitas wanted to do was be his friend. (VentusxVanitas)
1. Chapter 1

There was something wrong with this. This wasn't how it was suppose to be. Ven was going to curl up in his big sweater and listen to his teacher's first day of school speech. Not avoiding eye contact with the guy in front of him. A guy that had spiky hair that reminded him of knives. Pointy, dark black knives. Maybe if he sunk his head deep enough into his sweater he'd go away...

"-do you?"

Ven blinked. He finally looked at the person in front of him.

"Sorry, what?"

"I said, 'you don't even know what we're doing, do you?'" The guy's voice was smooth. Smooth and deep. Maybe even soothing. "No...well, kind of," Ven shuffled his feet, "We're suppose to interview each other, right?" "Yeah. Anyway, my name is Vanitas." The guy, now known as Vanitas, handed Ven a paper. Ven quickly looked at it before finding a box with 'partner's name' in it. He wrote 'Vanitas' and put his pencil down. It was his turn.

"My name is Ventus. Call me Ven." He immediately felt uncomfortable. Vanitas was now looking him over. Ven pretended like he didn't notice. He looked away and focused on a poster to his left. 'Remember, always try to make new friends!' it read. Yeah, sure. If he could actually talk to someone without feeling awkward and out of place he would. Ven turned his attention back on his partner. Vanitas was writing stuff down. Lots of stuff.

"Sooooo...what are your hobbies?" He asked.

Ven shuffled his feet again. "Ummm...reading. I like taking pictures-"

"Well duh. This is a photography class." Oh. So now he was rude. This is exactly why Ven stayed in his room. "I want the good stuff," Vanitas leaned a little forward, putting his hands underneath his chin for support, "The kind of things you don't tell anyone." It made him want to lean back away from him.

"Well, if I don't tell anyone, what makes you think I'll tell you?" Hadn't he just met this guy? Why did he need to tell him his secrets? It wasn't like he had any; he didn't do anything that needed to be kept secret. "Just tell me something _good_." Ven pretended not to be bothered by the way he said good. Like he was taunting him or something.

"Ummm. No?" He was starting to feel nervous. Why was Vanitas pushing him to answer this? Ven knew it was only for the paper, but who cared? It was the first day of his senior year and he wanted to get through it as fast as possible.

Then Vanitas smirked. A little sharp canine tooth slipped out the corner of his mouth. It reminded Ven of a vampire. That made him even more nervous. "Good. You're sassy. Sassy...and maybe an introvert." He wrote on the paper. After he was done, he smiled. "What else should I write?" _Maybe that I don't like you_ , Ven thought. Instead, he shook his head. "I need to write stuff about you." Ven picked up his pencil.

"What do you like?"

"I like music." Well wasn't this a great start.

"What kind?" Ven tapped his pencil against the desk. A bad habit of his.

"Anything except country." Vanitas leaned against his chair and pulled out his phone. Ven rolled his eyes. He just wanted to leave already. Be done with Vanitas and his knife hair and his dimples.

The teacher finally realized the time and looked up from her book. "Everyone, finish up whatever you're writing and turn in your papers." Ven softly pushed the paper across the desk. He didn't want to get up. Vanitas picked up the paper and went to the teacher. The bell rang. Ven was the first one out the door. Day one, and many, many more to go.

The next few months blended in together. The thought of seeing his books when he got home kept Ven going. When he wasn't reading, he would stare at himself in the mirror. He was only looking at his flaws. Like how his blond hair went into a cowlick at the top. Or like how his eyes were a dull blue, and permanent bags were underneath those dull eyes. He only hoped Vanitas wouldn't ask him why he didn't get sleep. He'd only laugh at his answer of 'I read all night'. Vanitas sat in the desk right next to him, and Ven was kind of happy that they talked. Vanitas acted like they've known each other for years. Ven wasn't mean enough to tell him he just wanted to read. Every time he would bring a book, Vanitas would grab it and ask what it was about. While he was reading the summary on the back. Like he couldn't get enough from reading it. Ven didn't want to admit it, but he was starting to like Vanitas' smirks. He noticed that he had different ones. The canine tooth was when he was interested. A big one for when he was teasing him. The only one that confused him was a tiny smirk. Maybe half-interest? He didn't know. This day felt different though. Vanitas didn't smirk at all.

"Vanitas," He started, "is something wrong?"

"Kind of. My brother's coming to live with me."

"Oh. Well shouldn't that be good though?"

"I haven't seen him in five years." Five years...Ven couldn't even imagine being without his twin Roxas for a day.

"Well...where has he been?" He asked, and he immediately regret it after. What if his brother had been in the hospital or something?

"He's been living with my mom ever since my dad died." _Oh._ Ven had no words. A wave of sadness washed over his body, drowning him. He didn't know if he should comfort Vanitas or ask how. Probably shouldn't do either. It turned out he didn't have to do anything.

"Hey. Will you come get him with me?"

"What? Why?" Ven's sadness was quickly covered up by an earthquake splitting him in half. All that was left was nervousness.

"Well, you kind of calm me down. Its hard to explain." Vanitas averted his eyes. Ven only noticed then that his eyes were a golden color, and it reminded him of a cat. Weird that he didn't notice before. His face looked a little red. He rubbed at his neck. It was the first time Ven saw him nervous. At first he wanted to say no. But they were technically friends now, right? Even though he wanted to go home and read, Vanitas wanted his company.

"Umm. Sure. I don't have anything to do today."

"Of course you don't, dumb ass. Its Friday." Vanitas stood up and stretched right when the bell rang. Ven pretended like he didn't hear what he said. He sat up too and picked up his backpack. He stared at the other for a second. The way he was stretching allowed Ven to sneak a peek at his stomach. He wished he didn't, now he was self-conscious.

"Ready to see a disaster, bookworm?" Vanitas asked.

Ven almost giggled. _Almost._ He could just hear the smirk in his voice without looking at him.

"I'm ready, Vani." Vanitas stopped stretching with his hands still in the air.

"Vani?"

"Yeah. Its kinda cute, don't you think?" Ven was wondering why he was so comfortable around Vanitas all of a sudden. While he was thinking, his friend _(it felt okay to call him that now)_ pushed him toward the door. "Sure, whatever you want. As long as I can keep calling you bookworm."

Ven accidentally let out the giggle. That day wasn't so different after all. Vanitas let out the biggest smirk he's ever seen; and it was amazing.

* * *

 **So this is something new. Just a little thing I've had in my mind for a while. If you guys like this, please tell me. I'll be a little bit more inspired to write more. Bye for now, and stay fabulous.**


	2. Chapter 2

Sitting inside Vanitas' car was so weird Ven needed time to adjust. It felt like Vanitas was allowing him to see a secret part of his life, even if it was only something as simple as a car. He didn't even know what type of car it was; Ven was never good with naming cars. It smelled like vanilla mixed in with smoke and another smell he couldn't describe. It actually didn't smell that bad. It smelled like Vanitas.

"So, are you excited?" Ven decided to start a conversation.

Vanitas shrugged. Tapped his fingers against the wheel. He was nervous again. His eyebrows were furrowed together, and he was concentrating hard on the road. Ven didn't mean to stare at him, but he looked so fucking _good_. Pointed nose, but not too pointy. Adam's Apple sticking out, moving up when he swallowed. Hair looking as spiky as ever. He even counted five holes in his ear.

"Your ears are pierced," Ven reached over and pulled on Vanitas' right ear. "Hmm? Oh, yeah." _I wanna bite it. I wanna bite all of him. I wanna suck on his Adam's Apple and leave a huge mark there._ He ignored what his mind thought. They were just friends. Friends don't bite each other's necks. Or ears. The car was filled with silence for a while. "I got my dick pierced too."

 _What._ Ven let out a huge gasp. "You did not!" Vanitas laughed and it made him melt inside. "I do too, wanna see it?" _Yes. Definitely._ "No, that's weird!" "If I really had one, I'd show it to you." "Weirdo..." It was quiet again and Ven wished it wasn't. The car rolled to a stop in front of an airport. It had glass windows, glass doors, everything was glass. Ven was half expecting the people that walked out to be carrying glass suitcases.

"What does your brother look like?" Ven was just sitting there, the least he could do was help look.

"He has brown hair, blue eyes, kinda short," Vanitas softly pushed Ven's head back so he could see out the window, "like maybe your height. His hair is spiky like mine." Almost everyone had brown hair. Ven scanned his eyes over the crowd of people falling out of the glass doors. He saw a head full of spiky brown hair and pointed. "Is that him?" Vanitas' face went pale and he opened the car door. He waved at the boy, and all Ven saw was a blur of brown hug the stuffing out of Vanitas.

Vanitas' brother sat in the back of the car. Ven offered to let him sit in the front but he shook his head. "Is Kitty your boyfriend?" His brother had asked him after about five minutes of silence. "Kitty? Who's Kitty?" Vanitas rolled his eyes.

"He's not my boyfriend. Also, bookworm, Kitty was my nickname when we were little." His brother smiled at Ven. He smiled a lot. He had that kind of smile you saw in the toothpaste commercials. Ven felt like he had to squint, his teeth were so white and shiny. "I'm Sora." "Ventus. Call me Ven." Sora started to ask a lot of questions.

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"Is Kitty nice to you?"

"When he wants to be."

"What do you like to do?"

"I read a lot."

Vanitas shot Ven an 'I'm sorry' look every few minutes. He was fine with it. Sora was bubbly and all things nice. It still surprised him that Sora was twenty. He looked like he was fifteen. Maybe it was the tan. He wanted to ask why he was here and why he and Vanitas haven't talked in five years. Ven stayed quiet and listened to Sora talk about how college was going. He was too shy to ask anyway.

They got to Vanitas' house when the sky was dark and the stars were winking. Everyone got out. Ven felt awkward; like he shouldn't be there. Vanitas gave him a smile and that reassured him for now. Sora hopped up the steps and pranced ( _When he walked, it looked like he was bouncing)_ all the way to the door. He waited for Vanitas to unlock the door. Instead, Vanitas stood in front of his brother. "Okay. Be nice to Xion, she pays the bills." He handed Sora the keys. "Aren't you coming in too?" Sora asked. He shook his head. "Gonna walk bookworm home." Ven was standing a couple feet away from them. He really shouldn't be here. He felt like he was interrupting something. Sora made an 'o' with his mouth, "Ohhhh, alright. Be safe." Then Sora was gone and Ven didn't have to squint anymore.

It was just him and Vanitas.

Ven looked down at his feet.

"Thanks for coming with me today." Vanitas took a step closer. And another one. He kept going until he was right in front of Ven.

"You're welcome. I didn't really do anything though."

"You were there. That's all that matters." Vanitas' voice sounded so smooth. Ven wanted to lean forward into his chest. He would if the wind wasn't already trying to push him into the other. "Do you ever, like, wanna ride the wind?" Ven started walking toward his house, which actually wasn't that far. Vanitas followed. "Jesus fuck, Ventus. I would love to be the wind. If all I had to do was blow you to get you to ride me, I'd do it right now." Ven felt his face turn red. He was glad he was waking in front.


	3. Chapter 3

Ven slid down his bedroom door. He was exhausted. Sora had talked up a storm and that was the most social interaction he'd had in months. Besides talking to Vanitas. With his spiky hair and sexy as fuck smirk... _What the fuck,_ Ven thought. He had never called Vanitas' smirk sexy, even though it was. Just because he spent time with him outside of school didn't mean they were suddenly together. You can't call your friend sexy. At least, that's what he thought.

He crawled to his bed on all fours and sat there for a while. He felt his lower region fill with warmth. Warmth that told him he was thinking of naughty, pervy things. He sighed and instead of taking care of it, pulled himself down under a blanket. He heard his bedroom door creak open.

"Venny? Are you alright?" Ven turned around to look at the familiar voice.

"Yeah mom. Just a little tired." He yawned for effect. His mom was wearing a plain red faded shirt, with paint stricken pants and her blond hair tied into pigtails. She walked over and sat on the bed next to him. She was very pretty; Ven and Roxas looked exactly like her. It made Ven wonder why he looked so fucking ugly all the time.

His mom ran her fingers through his blond hair and it made him reflexively close his eyes. She sniffed, and then looked at her son with stern eyes.

"Why in the flying fuck do you smell like weed?" She asked. It made Ven laugh.

"I was with a friend. His car smells like smoke and vanilla." He said.

"That's...weird. If I hear about you doing any drugs I'm locking you in your room. Well," His mom smiled teasingly at him, "You already lock yourself in here anyway." She then stood up. "If you need me, you know where to find me." Ven watched her walk away. She walked with pride, her chin in the air and swaying hips. He wished he could be like her. Maybe then he'd feel more comfortable thinking about Vanitas the way he was.

* * *

"Ven! Ven, get your fucking ass up!" Ven tried to open his eyes but he was too tired. He rolled over instead. "Go away Roxas."

Roxas, being obnoxiously loud for no reason, jumped onto the bed and shoved the shit out of him. "Please get up, my drug dealer's at the door and I owe him money."

"What does that have to do with me?" Ven asked. He really didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment, especially a scary drug dealer. A buff drug dealer. A drug dealer with tattoos all over his buff body. Scary.

"Just please answer the fucking door." Roxas said. He got up and walked to the door, leaving it open. The family cat, Michelangelo, walked in on his fat paws and jumped on the bed. Ven pet him and the cat stretched his butt in the air and purred. "At least you wake me up nicely." He said to the cat. Ven reluctantly got up. He had nothing else to do anyway. He pulled on a big sweater so he wouldn't have to put on a shirt or any pants, then went to the bathroom to make himself at least look decent. Michelangelo followed him down the stairs and to the front door.

He opened the door enough to where his head could poke out. Didn't want Mr. Buff Drug Dealer to punch him in the stomach. Ven felt the cold hit his face and he closed his eyes.

"Hello, Ven~" Vanias smirked at him instead of smiling. Michelangelo slipped through the crack of the door and huffed his way to Vanitas' legs. He rubbed against them, getting fur all over his pants. "Michelangelo...that's rude." Ven opened the door some more and stepped out, closing it behind him.

"Michelangelo? Really?" Vanitas laughed. He bent down to pet the fat cat. "Like the Ninja Turtle?

"No, like the renaissance artist. My parents are into art." Vanitas looked up at Ven. He looked straight at his legs. "Do you...do you shave?" He kind of snickered, and Ven felt his face get warm against the cold wind. "Umm, yeah. Do you have a problem with it?" He looked down into golden eyes. "No. Not at all. I'm not that much of a dick." Ven then remembered why he was outside.

"Did you see a really buff guy here?"

"You're looking at him."

Ven rolled his eyes. "No, fuckboy, I mean someone who looks scary! Kinda like a drug dealer."

"Nooo...did your brother find someone else or something?"

Something clicked in his mind.

"...You're his drug dealer."

"Yeah."

"Did you know I was his brother?"

"Well obviously, you two are identical. He's told me about you before too."

"Are you gonna like, kill me so you can get money from him?"

Vanitas laughed. Ven felt his whole body become warm. "No, I'm not gonna do that. You're too cute to kill anyway." He smirked up at the blond. Ven decided to walk down the sidewalk to his left, in the direction of Vanitas' house. He stared down at the grass that was growing out of the cracks of the sidewalk. He felt bad for the grass. Covered by a slab of concrete and struggling to get what they needed most. He looked up at the sun. He always did this, no matter what his parents told him. He liked how when you blinked, you saw a dot of purple and red. It reminded him that he was alive, and something as bright as the sun actually existed.

"You always look like you're in your own little world." Vanitas and Ven were walking side by side now, with Michelangelo following.

"Yeah...my own little world." He repeated.

"You know," Vanitas turned around to pick up the cat who was falling behind, "Roxas told me that once upon a time, you were really happy. Like really fucking happy. Like your smile was a thousand lights. What happened?"

Ven tried not to remember what happened. Why his whole world changed and why he liked to shut himself in. Why what happened eight years ago still haunts him everyday. Every time he did, a lump would inhabit his throat, and his eyes would burn.

"Why should I tell you? I don't even know you. All I know about you is that you're my brother's drug dealer, you have a sister that's pregnant, your brother is in college, and that you smell like vanilla and smoke."

"Well maybe if you told me I'd get to know you better?" Ven turned around to look at Vanitas. He looked like a runaway teen sitting on the sidewalk. Ripped jeans and a jacket; he was even wearing his earrings today. He looked a lot older.

He wanted to tell him. He desperately wanted to tell him. He wanted to tell someone that he's only known for a couple of months something that took him years to tell his family.

Ven sat down next to him and pulled his legs into his sweater so that his whole body was covered. Vanitas was patient, quietly waiting for Ven to tell him. Ven took a deep breath.

"When I was like nine...we moved here. It was terrible. I left the house I grew up in and left all my friends. Once I was finally getting used to living here, some guy in his late forty's moved in across from us. He was always really nice. He had a nephew that me and Roxas liked to play with, so we'd always go over." His voice cracked and the lump in his throat was starting to make it hard to think. His eyes were making everything blurry. He stared at the street to distract himself from blinking and letting tears roll down his cheeks. It didn't help. The tears made his face more cold than it already was.

"One day when we were all playing outside...he asked me to help him bring drinks for all of us. I said sure and helped cause I was a kid. Kids just do nice things like that. He didn't even take me to the kitchen. He just sat on the couch and told me to get in front of him. I did and he just...he fucking..." It was getting hard to breathe. Vanitas reached out and hugged Ven to his chest. Michelangelo rested on both of their laps. Ven wiped his cheeks. It was more wet than he thought. The lump was trying to jump out of his throat and onto the street.

"He touched me. I didn't know what the fuck to do. I was just a kid, I didn't even know what the fuck he was doing...all I knew is that it was wrong and that it didn't feel right. It didn't even happen once. It happened so many times that I just blocked out all of it. Always acted like nothing was wrong even though inside I was crying and screaming and wondering why this guy would even do that. He would always ask 'Does it feel good' and 'Where should I touch next'. I just said 'I don't know' every time. Cause I didn't know. You ask a nine year old that and you expect a fucking answer? That's disgusting."

Ven could feel Vanitas breathe against him.

"He would always ask me to help him with drinks. That's how I knew he wanted to fucking touch me. I remember Roxas wanting to do it, and I didn't want him to go through what I was going through. The reason I kept going over to that sick fuck's house was to protect Roxas. I would always help and I wouldn't let him do it."

Vanitas was hugging Ven tighter now. He was running fingers through his hair, kissing his forehead, doing everything to make him feel better.

"That's why I'm like this. That's why I'm always sticking to myself. I hate talking about it. It makes me feel embarrassed. Like I should be ashamed for what he did to me. I feel like its my fault." Vanitas shook his head, moving blond hair around.

"Don't you ever feel like that. It was not your fault. Don't be ashamed about something that wasn't your fault." Vanitas said. He pulled Ven's head up to look at him and wiped away tears. "I am so fucking sorry that happened to you." He pointed at the house across from Ven's. "Does he still live there?" "No...he moved." He looked back at the crying blond.

Vanitas leaned in and brushed his lips with Ven's. Half of him wanted to pull him closer and the other half wanted to scream.

He pulled away and smiled. "I won't let anything happen to you, okay?" Ven nodded. Vanitas kissed him again; and lips were so warm and comforting...he never wanted him to stop.

* * *

 **This chapter really hit home guys. I'm sorry if it feels like their relationship is a little rushed, I just wanted a little bit of kissing in this chapter. Also sorry for my cheesy endings. I just love cheese.**


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